Dinner

Since we had a group of 12, we were assigned to 2 tables for dinner at My Fair Lady. The first seating was pretty tight. It only ran from 6-6:15pm. Missing that small time frame would mean an 8:30 dinner! Most of us made it, but Edwin, Ifore & Uncle Charlie were still battling jet lag.

Boarding

We boarded The Enchantment of the Seas at around 12pm. There was hardly a line as we were having lunch at The Windjammer by 12:30pm. Since we had an early breakfast, we were all pretty hungry. Also because we boarded & checked-in early, all 12 of us got seats and made our rounds right away. Naturally, everything is just a bit smaller than QM2, but so far, the buffet dining seems to have more variety.

After we ate, I went with Edwin & Ifore to take a quick tour of the ship. The pool area is one large one as opposed to the many small ones in QM2. The gym on Enchantment seems to be slightly larger, but has less variety in classes. There's a rock climbing wall at the rear of the ship. Because of it's location, the feel of being at the top must be pretty close to an actual mountain because it's all ocean if one were to look down!

So right now, we're just relaxing and waiting for our luggage to arrive on our floor. There's also a mandatory safety drill coming up.

Don Frye?

We got up at about 5am for the 8am flight to our port of call, Ft. Lauderdale. The limo arrived on time and we all did the electronic check-in, which took just about the same time as the conventional method. While I was entering all of our flight data, I saw a guy walk by that looked just like the fighter/actor, Don Frye. In my mind, I always thought he was taller though. I didn't get a chance to ask him because his name didn't come to my mind right away... and he was too far away by the time I was done with the ticketing machine. Too bad we didn't end up at the same gate. I could've used a second look to confirm and would've loved to take a picture with him.

Right now, we're waiting for the plane to take off. There was a slight delay because they had to get some paperwork done for a part replacement. Hopefully it doesn't end up like our American Airlines flight back in January.

Related: IMDB, Wikipedia, Godzilla: Final Wars

Packing for Enchantment

With just 3 more days until my family cruise to Key West & Cozumel, I started putting aside what I plan to bring early. It's a short 4-night cruise, but hard to pack for. I'm trying to think of the different activities I might be doing and balancing that with the latest luggage restrictions. It's going to be hot, so at least most of the clothing will be light. Here's what I have so far:

- netbook for blogging & offloading digital photos
- digital camera, 8 GB SD, charger & case
- iPod for the plane ride & gym
- prescription swimming goggles
- 1 pair of dress pants for dinner
- *1 pair of jeans for other cruise activities & flights
- 2 pairs of shorts (1 for gym, 1 for port stops)
- 1 pair of swimming trunks
- 7 pairs of socks (1 for each day, 2 for emergency)
- 6 boxers (1 for each day, 1 for emergency)
- 1 dress shirt & tie for dinner
- 5 T-shirts for various use... it's more than the number of days because some of these will be used for mornings at the gym
- *1 belt that goes with everything
- dress shoes for dinner
- *Pumas for jogging & port stops
- armband for cellphone, but can also be used w/ iPod while jogging
- 1 small pouch of personal hygiene products
- light leather jacket for the flights... and because it's my favorite
*Will be wearing these items

All of these items cover the various activities like swimming, jogging, rock climbing, dining etc. They also fit into a laptop bag and medium sized carry-on luggage with some room to spare. A lot of the space was saved with the 10" netbook. Before getting that, I used to lug around a 15" laptop that weighed about 7 lbs! Since the netbook is so small (like a hardcover novel), it can easily be carried around, which also eliminates the small travel journal I usually bring around. I used to make notes for blogs on paper, but now I can go directly to computer.

Puerto Rico

My parents went to Puerto Rico from May 12-19. I'm posting this on the blog since neither of them have a site. It's split up into 3 parts with the slideshow representing part 1. Enjoy!


- Part 2 - ESJ Towers & Fort San Felipe del Morro
- Part 3 - Paseo del Morro

Memorial Sunday Dinner

After Auntie Ethel's party, we got back to my parents' house and immediately started getting things ready for our own party. Originally, we were going to go out for dinner, but decided last night that it would be better in the house. There would be no rush, everyone would get a chance to interact and we could get a larger variety of food. Last night's dinner was at such a huge table that it was difficult to talk to people at the other side.


After dinner, my Dad took Jeremy & Frida's family for a self-drive tour of NYC as he drove Emily back home. I went along for the ride as well and was able to work on these photos (above) for a little bit along the way.

Auntie Ethel's Birthday

Event #3 of Memorial Weekend was a surprise Birthday party for Auntie Ethel by Warren and Susan. I wasn't able to make it for the surprise, so I made sure I arrived after Auntie Ethel did.


I got pretty full on all of the great food here, but knew I couldn't stuff myself to the max, knowing that we had a family event for dinner.

Tung Yi Fung (Again)

A week later, we found ourselves in the same place as last week! Earlier in the week, we got word from Kathy that Jeremy would be getting married in October. Shortly after, an email from Jeremy announced that he would be in NY for the long weekend to meet Frida's parents. We picked them up from the airport early Saturday morning as they came in on a red eye flight from LA. Jeremy & Frida were going to host a dinner for the 2 families and my parents suggested Tung Yi Fung for the prices, food and space.


Afterwards, Jeremy, Cindy, Wil & Wesley came over my parents' house to hang out for the night. Frida and her family retired back to the hotel to catch up on lost sleep.

Memorial Saturday BBQ

For the first of my four Memorial Weekend events, Ben & Clovy hosted a BBQ on Saturday in place of our usual monthly dinner. Most of our group was away for the long weekend though. Only James and I were able to make it. The weather was perfect too. It's as if we got the bad weather out of the way during the week so the weekend events would be uninterrupted.


We stayed there until about 4:30, just eating, talking and playing with the kids & dogs. Then I had to take off and get ready for the next event!

Homework Help Cookout

We had our end of the school year party for Homework Help tonight. After an entire rainy week, the weather was perfect for us to do a cookout. We started with the traditional handing out of certificates for all of the students that completed the program. Then we headed to the courtyard in the back for dinner.


For more details on the events, visit the Picasa album.